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Luczak loses in Vienna opening round

Frederico Gil of Portugal returns to Stefan Koubek of Austria during their Vienna Open first-round match on Monday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Australian Peter Luczak’s European slump continued on Monday as the No. 83 journeyman fell to his second first-round loss in a row with an exit at the Austria Tennis Trophy.

Luczak suffered a 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 defeat at the Stadthalle as Spanish fifth seed Nicolas Almagro staged a comeback in a match featuring a massive 35 aces.

The 30-year-old Luczak, 2-4 this season at the ATP level, accounted for 15 of the bombs as he broke Almagro twice on nine opportunities. The Spanish seed, winner of a title in Acapulco in February, fired the remaining 20 during his victory in two and a quarter hours.

Almagro’s win was his career-first at the event where he lost in the first round from 2005-2007.

Luczak has yet to taste success indoors this autumn in Europe after going out in last week’s Stockholm opening round to Swede Joachim Johansson.

Almagro moves on to a second-round match against American Wayne Odesnik, who defeated Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6).

In other day one results, German No. 125 Daniel Brands rose to the occasion as he beat American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. Victor Crivoi of Romania eliminated Czech Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-3 and Frederico Gil of Portugal rallied to beat Stefan Koubek of Austria 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The field is headed by Croatian Marin Cilic, a late substitution for missing US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, who performed poorly in Asia in recent weeks before heading home to Argentina to re-group for the end of the season and the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London from Nov. 22.

The top three men in the Vienna field, Cilic, second seed Radek Stepanek and Frenchman Gael Monfils are all still chasing possible year-end spots, with the last two places to be decided over the next three weeks of ATP play.

Cilic, winner of two titles and finalist this month in Beijing to Novak Djokovic, stands provisional 12th, while Stepanek, an alternate last year when the year-ender was played in Shanghai, trails on 14th, and Metz champion Monfils is 16th.

Cilic will begin his week against Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla while Stepanek starts with Pols Lucasz Kubot and Monfils hopes a back injury will not bother him in his first-rounder with Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Additional reporting by staff writer



■HEWITT FRUSTRATED

AFP, SYDNEY

Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt yesterday expressed frustration after long-serving Tennis Australia chief Geoff Pollard was re-elected despite calls for his removal.

Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, insisted the governing body needed a change of leadership to reverse Australia’s steady decline in the sport.

“For me, the only way forward right at the moment is change and you have to start with change at the top,” Hewitt told Macquarie radio.

“They have got to open their eyes now and have a good look at themselves and see where the sport is going,” he added.

Hewitt had openly called for Pollard’s ousting as head of Tennis Australia, a position he has held since 1989. The 65-year-old beat rival Paul McNamee in a secret ballot of state delegates on Monday to win another year in office.

“Hopefully by me coming out and voicing my opinion, at least Tennis Australia is going to be put on notice and people are actually going to be looking at the results that we have over the next year,” Hewitt said.

“We need someone who is strong ... to make the decisions in the best interest of our sport and that starts with the president of the federation,” he added.

Despite his country’s glittering tennis tradition, Hewitt, ranked 20, is one of only two Australians in the top 100 alongside the little-known Peter Luczak, currently at 83.



■LYON GRAND PRIX

AP, LYON, FRANCE

Fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina and No. 5 Julien Benneteau of France both advanced to the second round of the Lyon Grand Prix after winning in straight sets on Monday.

Monaco beat Josselin Ouanna 6-3, 6-2, breaking his French opponent’s serve six times, while Benneteau relied on his strong first serve to beat Alberto Martin of Spain 7-6 (1), 6-1.

Benneteau has never won a career singles title and was runner-up to two-time champion Robin Soderling at the indoor carpet event last year. Benneteau hit six aces against Martin and won 82 percent of points on his first serve.

“It would be great if I could go all the way and win my first title here,” Benneteau said. “I’m not the favorite, there are other players who are stronger. I wasn’t too far off last year.”

Benneteau will play either Kevin Anderson of South Africa or Germany’s Simon Greul in the second round.

Florent Serra of France saved all four break points he faced to beat Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 in Monday’s other first-round match.



■ST PETERSBURG OPEN

AP, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Karol Beck of Slovakia has upset third-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 in the first round of the St Petersburg Open.

Troicki leveled at a set apiece on Monday after breaking in the 10th game of the second set.

Beck, the 2004 runner-up, set up his victory with a break in the seventh game of the third set. Troicki also lost in the tournament’s opening round last year, falling to eventual champion Andy Murray of Britain.

Bjorn Phau of Germany also advanced, beating Russian wild card Stanislav Vovk 6-3, 6-2 while Rainer Schuettler of Germany, the 2001 runner-up, was ousted by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4.

Mikhail Youzhny leads the field after winning the Kremlin Cup last week for his fifth career title. He won the event in 2004.
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